Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Stigmata ❯ Stigmata - Jagged ends part 01 ( Chapter 1 )

by ufomanne 03/10/06

 

 

 

STIGMATA

 

 

Chapter 01 ~ Jagged ends

Part 01

 

 

trust is such a fragile thing

the human heart is fickle...

 

 

 

 

The blood.

 

It was everywhere, on the floor, on the walls, on him, everywhere. He struggled frantically to squirm free of the body that lay limply on him, his unresponsive limbs was like water; they almost seemed to belong to someone else in their weak attempts at flailing or moving at all. Finally, after a long struggle, he managed to crawl out from under the corpse with a terrified sob. He tried to stand up, to flee, to do anything to escape from the blood, but he couldn't even muster the strength to sit. He continued crawling, only moving at a snail's pace with his weakened body, with a grimace of terror plastered on his blood encrusted face and unacknowledged tears making trails down his face. He had to get away, away from the blood.

 

 

Ranma jerked violently from the image in his mind, and narrowly avoided the large, clawed hand that was aimed to rip his jugular from its proper place. He frantically dodged another swipe that would have earned him a fatal wound had he failed to avoid it, and nimbly launched himself in a series of back flips to gain some distance to his enemy. He finished the flip with an unsteady stagger, almost falling to his knees.

 

The blood. It was here too, the metallic smell and slightly sticky feel of warm blood, but now it was his own; this fight had not been in his favour. It was night time, and the park was dark and quiet, only the sounds of leaves rustling slightly in the soft breeze, and the muted sounds of a desperate struggle.

 

It was a monster; he had encountered it while slowly strolling through the large park. It had been waiting for him, standing on the path he walked, letting itself be seen well before it attacked. It was tall, about two meters, and its body and limbs were thin, bony and incredibly strong. Its hands and feet were large, disconcertingly out of proportion, each bony finger and toe ended in a wicked black claw, it moved hunched forward and in a crouched stance that almost led the thought of a monstrous starved and rabid monkey. It had grey wrinkled skin and was clad in tatters of some sand coloured robe which swayed about its body when it moved. However none of these things made Ranma classify this creature as a monster, it was the face, and specifically the eyes of the being in front of him. The face was made of the same wrinkled grey skin as the rest of it, rather humanlike in its appearance, it had a mouth full of jagged and broken teeth and a nose that almost seemed rotted away, all of it was twisted into a still mask of rage and hate, so etched into the face that it let anyone looking into it know that it was capable of no other emotion. The eyes though, while the general appearance was of decrepit hate and decay, the eyes were different; they glistened with health and terrible intelligence. They were the eyes of someone Ranma knew, and they were filled with a cold hate so all-encompassing that he could not look away. Those eyes, locked with his since he came close enough to recognize them in the dark, instilled a silent, chilling terror in Ranma, making him, forcing him to relive again and again a memory he had done everything he could to forget.

 

The fight had continued for some time, Ranma's skill and speed was stretched to its limit, and the monster, while utilising no apparent skill at fighting made up to it with ferocious speed and bone crushing strength, and nothing Ranma threw at it seemed to have any lasting effect on it. Ranma had felt its jaw break, and several of its ribs, but it maintained the same hateful grin and hadn't even slowed down or otherwise acknowledged its injuries. Ranma, on the other hand, felt every mark where he had failed to dodge the creature, the intense pain in his left forearm and the inability to clench his left hand into a closed fist was the signs of his first and last try at a block. His right side had wounds from its claws and he thought that the pain in his side might mean a broken rib or five, his shirt was wet with blood and stuck to his side with a strange cold sensation. Other, lesser wounds and bruises was found all over his body and he was starting to feel exhausted, from the extreme tempo of the long fight, and the heavy damage he had sustained.

 

He stared at the hateful eyes staring at him unblinkingly as they exchanged blows and he smiled in grim satisfaction, the world had a peculiar sense of humour indeed, he had expected to end his days in a similar fashion, but the pure horror of the situation made his worst fears look like pale shadows.

 

The brutal fight came to an abrupt end as Ranma failed to dodge the opening swipe from the monsters charge and received a heavy blow to the head, flying backwards and to the side like a puppet with its strings cut, rolling a few meters in the dirt and then coming to a stop on his back. The monster slowly walked up to him, clearly sensing that the victory was its and seeing no need in hurrying to finish off its victim, it came to stop at Ranma's feet, looking down on him with the frozen grin and cold, glistening eyes. Ranma looked back, his body lacked the strength to move anymore, his eyesight swimming with small black shining dots.

 

Ranma looked up at the eyes staring at him, and he realised; the monster would kill him now, and in his mind, Ranma finally relaxed, somehow satisfied with that ending, happy to soon be unable to remember anymore. He looked up at those familiar eyes with sad resignation, refusing to close his eyes as the monster raised a hand with sinister claws; made only to kill. He slowly directed his stare upward to gaze at the beautiful star covered sky, opening his mouth to whisper his last words to the ghosts in his mind.

 

Unable to move, and thus unable to react in any way, Ranma heard an anguished outcry from outside his field of vision, the monster not likewise impaired whipped its head and body around to face the source of the desperate shout, ready to eviscerate anyone foolish enough to interfere. Ranma's eyesight was somewhat blurry, but he could still see the bolt of brilliant white energy and light come streaking in with great speed from the same angle as the voice, trailing glowing white mist after it. It hit the surprised monster in the abdomen, exploding in an eye blinding cascade of light and white motes of energy. The explosion lifted Ranma's helpless body once more, making him tumble through the air to land roughly on his face a short distance away. Grunting in pain as he landed, Ranma immediately tried to push himself up on his arms, but they gave out before he could make any considerable effort, he gave up and lay still breathing slowly. He heard quick footsteps on the gravel of the pathway, and soon someone knelt beside him, gentle hands grabbed him by one of his arms and his other shoulder, lifted his face from the ground and carefully turned him around.

 

Her face was lovely; pretty blue eyes brimming with tears, her delicate mouth trembling as her exquisite face framed by soft blonde hair expressed an emotion too strong to properly name. She cradled him in her lap and brought one trembling hand to the side of his face, as if touching him to see that he was really there in her arms. Ranma slowly opened his mouth, feeling half dazed with pain and amazement at the girl's sudden appearance and stunning beauty.

 

"Hi." Ranma whispered, his voice rasping through his dry throat in a painful breath. The girl seemed relieved at his somewhat anticlimactic attempt of communication, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips as twin tears slipped along her eyelashes and landed on his cheek.

 

"Are, are you all right? I... I saw you, and I thought I was too late, I just, I, I..." her voice was a mix of relief, panic and fear, a quiet sob escaped her even though she seemed to fight it. Ranma smiled at her, but it turned out more like a grimace of pain.

 

"I'm ok, I think... Just, have been better." He muttered, not attempting to move just yet.

 

"I, I can help you I think, wait." Her eyes brightened a bit as if she remembered something, and then she closed her eyes and put her hand on his chest, a small wrinkle of concentration appeared in the middle of her brow. A soft white glow started to emanate from her hand seeping into Ranma's chest, the glow intensified and soon the whole girl shone with soft white light, the hand itself was like a brilliant star. Ranma felt with growing amazement how hit chest first grew tingly and warm, the pain disappeared quickly and the warmth spread through his body, removing most of his fatigue. The glow faded suddenly, and the girl seemed on the verge of fainting, she closed her eyes and seemed to steel herself, and rose slowly letting go of Ranma, once standing she wobbled slightly and then steadied herself. Ranma also got on his feet and flexed his fists and patted the areas of his body that had been heavily damaged. Even though he felt he had been awake for three days straight and had been beaten with a stick repeatedly there were no wounds, not even bruises, to be found. He turned to look at the girl, studying her a little closer now when he didn't have to fight to keep conscious.

 

"Thank you, I guess. I'm Ranma..." His tone was subdued as he glanced curiously at her peculiar garb. She was dressed in some kind of modified school uniform with brightly coloured ribbons on the bodice and a white skirt with yellow and blue stripes. She had white gloves that reached her to the elbows and boots which was of the same colour theme. To top it off she had her very long hair made up with odangos, which were held up by a tiara and several other glittering accessories. In short; she looked very strange, but not in a repulsive way. She was beautiful, almost glowing in the shadows of the park they were in. She looked nervously at him while he studied her, and looked down and seemed almost surprised at her own attire. She looked up again, seemingly even more nervous, opened her mouth, hesitated for a second, and then spoke.

 

“I'm… I'm Usagi.” She looked at him with a desperate look, then looked down at her feet, her blush going unnoticed in the shadows. Ranma tore his eyes from Usagi and looked around the small area they were in, nothing could be seen of the creature that had attacked him, only a small crater where the bolt had hit it. He could hear running footsteps that came closer, probably police or something similar coming to investigate the ruckus. He looked back at the beautiful girl again and pointed toward the sound.

 

“I think someone is coming, we better get out of here.” He said quickly in a low voice with a nervous edge to it, his emotions in turmoil. Usagi looked into the distance where he pointed and nodded quickly, she looked back at him and fidgeted for a second before talking.

 

“I, ah, just a second” She almost stammered, then she closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate very hard, her face scrunching up in a pretty cute way. Ranma was surprised as soft white light suffused her and he could see the contour of her clothing dissolve to light and then solidify again in another shape. The whole thing took just a few seconds, and then Usagi stood before him in a more proper school uniform in subdued grey and black. Ranma's eyes widened as he somehow recognised Usagi's face now, he couldn't quite place it, but it was familiar. He was startled out of his stupor when she took his hand and with a whispered `I'll explain later' she led him running out of the park in the opposite direction of the approaching steps.

 

_ _ _

 

 

They paused briefly in a semi dark alley, Usagi panting heavily and leaning against the wall while Ranma glanced out on the larger street seemingly unfazed from their quick run. Seeing no apparent followers and no suspicious figures among the few people who walked along the street he turned toward the girl that had saved his life, in a quite spectacular way. He narrowed his eyes and tried to bore through her to see what her motives were while she had her back turned to him, to discern why she was vaguely familiar to him. He felt a spike of resentment towards the girl, he had been ready to die, an end to all the suffering. But now it was to naught, another monster to hunt him in his nightmares. He recognized with his logic that she had saved him and that he should be grateful, but his emotions didn't quite conform to his thought. She turned around and leaned on the wall, slowly sliding downward until she was crouching against the wall and turned her eyes on him. He looked away when her gaze met his, her glittering eyes and flushed face making him feel bad about being so suspicious. He glanced around on the two big grey buildings that towered on each side of them idly, trying to hide the nervousness he felt. His eyes fell back on her, and he spoke up.

 

“How… What happened back there? Who are you?” His voice was subdued as he looked at her from below his bangs, slowly walking closer to her, She rose up while still leaning against the wall. She looked to the side, her hands playing unconsciously with the hem of her skirt.

 

“I don't know… I just saw you and… I had to do something, it just came to me. It has never happened before.” She said, her voice just above a whisper. She looked up at him again, with a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

 

“What was that thing? It was so… wrong.” She whispered, almost as if talking loud would summon it to them again in its naked horror. Ranma looked away with an uncomfortable expression, almost looking a bit sick.

 

“I, I don't know.” His words sounded false even in his own ears. He shrugged and stepped away from her, slowly making his way down the alleyway. After a moment of hesitation Usagi started following him. He looked at her over his shoulder, studying her beautiful face, she looked tired but it could not overshadow her subtle radiance.

 

“So, Usagi you say… I think I've seen you somewhere, but I can't quite remember…” he trailed off, looking quickly around as a new street opened up, and then walking over it and heading down a stair, past a few bushes and down into a passage below a road. Usagi was quiet at first, following him closely, but then spoke up.

 

“I feel the same about you, but I don't know why,” she said as she put her index finger to her lips in a thoughtful gesture, and then shrugged “but I'm sure I haven't seen you around here.” They walked in silence for a while, Ranma ignoring the girl who followed him, and Usagi keeping close with some uncertainty in her step, seemingly unsure of why she was following. After a while they came up next to an area with a few dark abandoned houses marked for demolishing but that had been left slowly disintegrating for a couple of years. In the darkness the big buildings loomed ominously above them. Ranma glanced at Usagi which was looking at the hollow, blown out windows gaping empty at them. He then proceeded to push open the rusty gate to the fence that had been put up to keep unauthorised people away. The gate whined on un-oiled hinges, a few shreds of the chain that had held it locked still hanging from one side, and he stepped inside. Usagi looked at him worriedly.

 

“Where are you going?” She asked with a concerned tone.

 

“Home” Was his short reply. Usagi frowned as she slipped inside the gate before it fell close with a subdued rattle. Usagi hurried up to his side, almost tripping on the rubble and the pitted asphalt covering the ground in the sparse illumination from the streetlights. She looked around and hugged herself, partly from the chill that now was noticeable when she was not warm from running anymore, and party from the disconcerting surroundings.

 

“You live here? How is that possible?” Ranma glanced at her when he heard her incredulous tone. He sighed wearily.

 

“It just is. I'm used to it. It's not so bad.” He replied evenly and calmly walked into one of the hallways on the side of the closest house. The outer door was nowhere to be seen, and the rooms that lined the corridors either missed doors or had ones that seemed half ready to fall apart. Usagi paused to look at the corridor, the walls were scarred and badly worn with only traces of paint left, leaving only bare and cold concrete in most places. She noticed after a few seconds that Ranma had turned left and had ascended a stair and ran after so that she would not be left alone.

 

Ranma looked at empty entrance into his haven then switched his gaze to Usagi coming jumping up the stairs next to him. He turned again and strolled into the barren room with Usagi close behind. He paused, putting several bundles that Usagi had not noticed him carrying on a rickety table that was lined up by the wall to the right, and then disappeared into another empty doorway further down the wall next to the table.

 

The room with the table was pretty big, and bereft of decorations. It was as in bad shape as the rest of the building, but it lacked the rubble, dirt and dust that covered everything else. Four windows decorated the wall opposite of the door, all of them barred with makeshift shutters made of assorted pieces of wood. Six square pillars helped hold the floor above them at bay, giving the room a slight feeling of having been used as storage before. The room angled out after a few meters and to the right was a raised part of the floor where an unmade and slightly dirty futon was laid out. The rest of the room was empty. Usagi took a few hesitating steps into the room, studying everything around her with tearing eyes.

 

“Damn it, my last shirt.” Ranma muttered as he came back, studying his dirty and shredded apparel. He glanced at Usagi's shocked face as he passed her and lit a few candles with a match on the table and started rummaging around with the bundles. After a minute he turned around with a bun of bread in his mouth and several more in his hands. He offered one to Usagi, and when she numbly took it he started slowly eating his own.

 

“You live… here?” Said Usagi with an unsteady voice, her last word displaying awkward disbelief. Ranma just nodded.

 

“Yeah, the cold water still works here,” Ranma said with a low voice, staring at the food in his hands. “The roof isn't leaking and most of the wind doesn't reach inside, better than sleeping outside.” He added, giving a dismissing shrug. Usagi turned fully towards Ranma and took a few steps closer.

 

“But what about your family? Don't you have any other place to go?” Slight desperation coloured her voice as she made a questioning gesture with her hands. Ranma slowly stopped chewing, his face visibly darkening. He lowered his face so his ruffled hair hid his eyes.

 

“No, they… They're all gone.” He whispered and put the half eaten bread back on the table as if he lost his appetite, putting all the rest of the bread in his hands down with it and then looking back on her. “Besides, what's so wrong with this place? It has everything I need to survive.” He retorted, with slight irritation. Usagi opened her mouth to answer, but Ranma threw out his arms in a frustrated gesture and talked before she could.

 

“Why are you here really? Why did you follow me here?” Usagi flinched and took a step back at his sharp tone, accidentally dropping her bread as Ranma pushed on. “You never answered me, what did you do back there? Those strange clothes you had, and the explosion, and the healing light, who are you!?” His question ending in a half-shout Usagi shirked back even more, holding her hands up in front of her as to defend herself from his harsh tone. When Ranma didn't shout any more, just remained in his questioning stance watching her darkly she lowered her arms and looked down on her shoes.

 

“I've never done it before, this was the first time I… transformed and did those things.” She told him with a subdued voice, she sniffled and then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, looking back up again. “I've had all these strange dreams the last few months. Dreams about having those clothes, and using… powers like that, I felt a yearning, like something was calling me.” Her voice became stronger as she continued, and Ranma apparently relaxed a little bit, listening intently.

 

“Calling you?” He asked, and she nodded timidly while looking down on her hands.

 

“The calling got stronger and stronger over the weeks, until I felt like I was going to burst because I didn't know what it was, I couldn't run to what was calling me. And now, I was on my way home, and I heard something from the park… I, I saw you there, on the ground…” Ranma looked away when tears started silently fall from her eyes. Then she looked up at him with an intense gaze. “It was you! You were the focus of the longing, I almost fainted from the rush of the call, and… It was going to kill you, and I knew I wouldn't be able to live on if you died, so I just did what I did, I don't know how I was able to do those things, but next moment it was destroyed.” Her voice trailed off, as if her energy had been spent and depleted with her words, slow, quiet sobs shook her frame. Ranma sighed and walked over to the raised portion of floor that his bed rested upon, sat down on the edge and looked up on her with a tired expression.

 

“Thank you, I guess, for saving me. I don't understand much of all this, it doesn't make any sense.” He shook his head slowly while remembering the eyes of the abomination that had almost killed him, that would have killed him. “I'm not sure I want to understand though.” He looked slowly up at her, and then tiredly drew his hand over his eyes, letting out a tired sigh. Then he rose up, eyeing her carefully.

 

“I'll follow you outside to the street again, so you can go home. Your parents must be worried about you.” He said, starting to walk toward the exit. She looked at him surprised, tears on her cheeks forgotten, then a look of embarrassed apprehension slowly grew on her face. She looked at her feet again, her blush evident even in the sparse light as she mumbled something. Ranma stopped, and turned to her.

 

“Huh? What was that?” He asked.

 

“I, please… I don't want to leave.” Usagi whispered. A look of incredulity crossed Ranma's features, as her blush intensified and went from neck to hairline. “Don't misunderstand me! It just feels wrong to leave, I don't know why. Can I, can I stay here?” She hurriedly continued, almost stammering in her hurry to get the words out.

 

“No.” Was his quiet and final reply, as he turned and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway. She stood frozen for a few long seconds, and then ran after him.

 

Outside the wind had picked up, making it seem colder. It rattled the fence and somewhere in one of the derelict buildings a window stood clattering in the wind. Ranma took no notice of the chill, even as the wind pulled and clawed at his torn clothing, he walked quietly down to the gate like a silent shadow. Usagi followed him, looking miserable. He held up the gate and turned to her. “You'll find your way home from here, right?” He asked and she nodded in reply. Slowly she stepped outside the gate and took a few steps out on the sidewalk and then turned around. They stood like that for a minute, gazing at each other, Ranma again noticing her beauty. Then he turned around and started walking, and did not turn around again.

 

_ _ _

 

 

www.unspokensilence.net

 

Well well, I am back. It was a long time since I wrote anything, but my muse struck me, and I have complied. This work has had no pre-readers, all errors are mine and mine alone. Constructive criticism about the story and my poor language are both greatly appreciated, contact me at the address above with whatever you have to say.

 

This story is obviously a Ranma½ and Sailor Moon fusion of some sort. Both worlds are changed and twisted more or less unrecognizable to fit my ends, so don't expect anything and don't get disappointed if nothing is what you think it will be. I will update when I feel like, which means that it might be next week or in a year or two, don't stay up waiting.

 

Also, as I say, feedback adds to the joy of writing and as such I welcome any comments thrown my way. I am however writing this story for myself, you can change my path, but not dissuade me from my goal. I hope someone will get something out of this story, be it me or someone else.